Phyllis Katherine Allan's Obituary
Phyllis Allan Obituary
Phyllis Katherine Allan (nee Whitney), 93, of Elyria, Ohio, passed away on June 23, 2017, after a short illness. She was born in Ishpeming, Michigan on March 12, 1924, the daughter of John H. and Golda B. Whitney.Mrs. Allan graduated from Oberlin High School, attended Columbia College in Missouri and graduated from Oberlin College in 1947, where she majored in English History and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She worked for the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. from 1947-1952 and the Cleveland Public Library from 1952-1953. She married her best friend, Andrew Allan, in 1949. They moved to Elyria in 1957 where she helped her husband run his construction business (Andrew Allan Builders, Inc.) until his retirement.A 60-year member of First Congregational Church in Elyria, Phyllis served on the Deaconate, belonged to Scrooby Club, the Adult Christian Education Committee, taught Sunday School and adult Bethel Bible Study, belonged to an intercessory prayer group, served on two pastoral search committees, two nominating committees, the constitution revision committee and participated in the Church’s needlepoint project that provided new cushions for the sanctuary.During her life, Mrs. Allan belonged to the Friends of the Elyria Public Library and taught illiterate adults to read through the Project Read program. She was a past volunteer with the Ohio Reads program at Ely School, an active member of the United British Society and member of Elyria’s Culture Club. She was a Girl Scout and held a ham radio license for many years.Mrs. Allan belonged to the Sierra Club, Wilderness Society, National Audubon Society, Cleveland Art Museum, Cleveland Natural History Museum, National Society for Historic Preservation and MENSA.Her interests included reading, writing, gardening, hiking, music and decorating. She was an accomplished dressmaker and enjoyed needlepoint work. Extensive traveling in Great Britain and the United States with her husband was a favorite pastime in later years. She and Andy took many trips on the Mississippi river paddlewheel boats and loved visiting Colonial Williamsburg, Hawaii and Alaska. Mrs. Allan continued her education by taking many classes through LCCC’s Center for Lifelong Learning and Case Western Reserve University.
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